The rest of the second set is mostly window dressing. But those are some serious highlights right there, after a very solid first set bookended by strong versions of Shakedown and Deal. HSF is one of the technically better-played versions w/r/t the transition to Slipknot and again to Franklin's. I still prefer 4/17/83 for the overall intensity and structure of the jams. Then you have Sailor>Saint, which I'm not a fan of, but it's played pretty well. A Heaven Help the Fool jam starts off Drums -- is that an acoustic? Part of the Drums is cut, right where Mickey's playing the talking drum, unfortunately. Space is pretty typical, as is Truckin' but that has a nice outro jam and lead-in to a long, intense Dew. This Dew has some of the prettiest playing in the quiet section of any I've heard. For a while during the closing jam, Brent's overshadowing Jerry, but Jerry reasserts himself before the end. Nothing much to say about the rest.

On my curved grading, this is a 3.5 stars, will round up to 4 on the strength of the Dew. (If I graded straight, few shows from the 80's would even get a 4, while almost every show from 72-74 would get a 5).

Best Morning Dew I think Jerry ever played, so emotional, and Franklin's Tower jam, wow! Some of my friends over did it, one chick even saw giant green skeletons on the stage!

It was loud. It was hot. The band was on fire. It was a thrill to be there. The first set was so intense that I recall in my trippy frame of mind actually being afraid of Weir during Hell in a Bucket. This was the first time I heard the song and the "ride ride ride" scared the hell out of me !

Yeah, no floor seats because the freeks took 'em all and threw 'em into great piles on the coliseum floor, around which we all danced...floor so slick with sheer humidity we could do slides across the hall holding hands by the dozen...the cops just stood in the doorways and left us alone. The band played Hot and loud and right at our level, no distance between us...we got down, all right. I never had a mightier time at a Grateful Dead show.

There were no floor seats and I was SO close to the stage. I spent most of the first set making faces back and forth with Mickey Hart. He saw me making his 'angry drum face' and laughed, and we spent the rest of the set making the face at each other. It was hilarious.

Great sounding recording! Captures all of Phil's bombs! Superb Morning Dew-sweet Jerry/Brent licks!
Awesome setlist!

I believe all the other reviews say it perfect. I was there. Oh man what a show from the opening boom of shakedown the show was electric. I believe everybody there felt the "energy" the anticipation for the second set is loud! nobody wanted to do the usual wandering in fear of missing the opening notes. How do you top an opening set like this Start the second set with h/s/f ....dew. now to have such a high quality recording to replace my tape of the show. Does anybody remember the drum/space? With what sounds like a heaven help the fool...awesome with the guitar lead in to the crazy masks mickey and billy sported while demonstrating tremendous drumming skills/technique/showmanship. Thank you

I was standing about 6 ft from the stage the whole night for this. You didn;t dare leave or you would never get back... Take another step back! Flying the whole night too. Catching eye contact with Jerry during Dew will always be etched in my noggin. And it rocked!

The sound quality is pretty damn good on this one. I loved Little Red Rooster, I think it's got the best Bob Weir slide solo ever. He just goes off on the phucker, then Jerry comes in and kills it too! Brent sounds real good here, nice song selection. I'm gonna go bump this in my ride right now...PEACE OUT!!!!!!

Hey, this was a week before my first show (Poplar Creek 6-29), but I loved this tape for many years. And lots of friends who were there said it was so loud they melted into the back wall from the sound... I can't believe no-one has mentioned the incredible H/S/F, the beautiful Lost Sailor (my favorite version ever) > Saint, and finally a little acoustic jam before Drums that seems to evoke Mind Left Body... Classic early 80's Dead. Oh, and the Shakedown was incredible too.

This was a hard show to record, I went through several copies till I found one that didn't fritz out at the bass peaks in Shakedown and Saint (and eventually lost it). This is better than most recordings I've heard of this loud show, and it's so cool to hear this again. Good work all round, thanks to the taper and transferer.
Cheers, PeterT

for turning me onto this show way back in 1985. i think we traded for tunes at one point. i love this show.

Capn double dose has it right, I also like the candyman,Bret's selection in his library of sound effects to me are very entertaining.
The Brown eyed women is also a pretty rippin version. As far Shakedowns go I would also have to agree on all those . I would like to point out a old favorite Shakedown, its 4/17/1982
The jam is so slick and perfect. Jerry's picking and smooth as butter solo (cue and listen 8:30 and check it out around 9:30 on the timer) excellent stuff. Brent using a simple piano sound and the band nails it. Most of my favorite Shakedowns are from 85' wicked stuff. Hard to give a #1 there so many.

Hot Franklins 83 stylee

very good aud with a powerful shakedown, the brown eyed women is flawless, no doubt one of they best version of the 400+ shows ive

step back...and another step back...everybodys ____ed up" is what i remember weir saying at the beginning of the second set before launching into the help on the way. this show is tight from start to finish and between all the traveling,(previous show was in maryland with one night break) and the loose atmosphere of Madison (people naked in the fountains in front) and the heat(high 90's) this show is a treasure. phil and jerry just crush the morning dew and i remember thinking as we pulled out of the parking lot that night, is minneapolis and chicago going to be like that...wow. it is great to finally hear the first set...all i remember is a long shakedown and jerry bob and phil all smiling as they harmonized on brent's "sooo longggg ooooooooo...

Or even close. Hek the guys that were there give this a 4.

The highlights of this are in my humble opinion candyman, rooster, deal and absolutely phenomenal brown eyed women one of the best I think. Shakedown is great but there are many really hot Shrine '78, Garden Fall '82, Spectrum Apr '82, Carrier Dome '84, Centrum Nov '85, and the mac daddy 6/30/85 Merriwether which I can say having seen it first hand tops any at the 70+ shows I saw or have heard.

In addition, The whole Spring '83 was off the charts Binghampton, UVM, Byrne, later SPAC, Merriwether - This show is not as hot as those... All of this said, there are some very hot parts of the second set.

Just food for thought...

I just started listening to Shakedown Street....hilarious with Jerry and the opening lines.....and amazing sound quality....one of the very best audiences I've ever heard.

By far the best of this era. If Shakedown and Deal don't knock you silly then you don't know the Dead as I do. Magic was in the air this night and since this show I have probably logged hundreds of hours just listening to this show. Down load the whole thing but if not just Shakedown.

To put it in personal perspective, my friends and I showed up at the venue, bought festival seating tickets for $10.50, and joined the Dead in what seemed like an intimate concert for a small crowd.

Phil was smiling constantly, Mickey and Billy wore bat masks during the drum solo, Jerry starts out with a HUGE smile when he forgot the opening words to Shakedown, and they played like they were having fun.

Loose, enjoyable, great sound quality, and one heck of a memorable experience for me. Why can't it be 1983 all over again? One listen to Phil on the St. of Circumstance solo tells you where he was at:).

Sloppy but fun performance, and the recording quality is excellent. The 2nd set sounds quite a bit brighter than the first, as if the analog masters were played back with different settings. Some lessening of the high end EQ may be in order, and light hiss reduction. Definitely worth getting if you like '83.

This show isn't great in my opinion, but the taper did a great job, it sounds really clear.